Star Wars One Shots
by GoddessofRoyalty
Summary: Random Star Wars short fics that I cannot justify as being connected to Fork in the Road enough to put in the Side Stories. Each chapter will have its warnings pairings at the start.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:**

 **Random Star Wars short fics that I cannot justify as being connected to Fork in the Road enough to put in the Side Stories. Each chapter will have its warnings + pairings at the start.**

 **Prompt by OwlFlight in response to A Little Help (which is posted on AO3 but not on here because of rating) that I write "One about Obi-Wan and his baby escaping and hiding out on Tatooine, because Obi-Wan guesses, correctly, that it's the one planet Anakin would never, ever, suspect he would run to?"**

 **Hopefully this satisfies?**

 **If I continued this he wouldn't be staying on this planet for long, and TBH it'd probably end up with a dark ending (and I mean darker then the fucking original).**

 **Warnings: mpreg, Dark!Anakin,**

She seems to be constantly crying these days.

Obi Wan knows the cause of it. He pretends it is hunger that makes her cry. Keeps feeding her as if it will solve the problem. He knows it is not actually anything he can fix.

It is the weather.

She is used to the temperature controlled weather of high tech space stations. Used to the cold weather of space. She is not used to the constant heat that comes with living on desert planets.

He hopes she will get used to it soon, that she will acclimatise to it. They are not going to leave the planet anytime soon.

It is a gamble. A gamble to return to Anakin's world of origin (it is not his home world, he hated it too much for it to really be his home world) but Obi Wan prays it will pay off.

Prays it will pay off because they have already gambled enough (sacrificed enough) for him to get here. A gamble that wagered their lives ( _all_ their lives) for the potential payoff of one of them being free.

He wishes it had been Padme that escaped. Wishes it had been her and the twins that they managed to smuggle out from under Anakin's nose. It had to be him though; he had "a better chance of surviving." He was more trained then her for this, more able to know how to stay hidden and be able to fend off threats (not that she was completely incapable, she still amazed him at her ability to switch from politician to fighter to survivor). Plus, one child was easier to keep secret than two (than three).

He promised to come back for her and the twins but first needed some time to hide. Time to allow Anakin to search all the universe (except, hopefully, this planet) and become blind to his missing lover. Time to allow their daughter to grow a bit, grow enough to not need his constant attention. He knows he cannot wait too long, cannot leave Anakin with his wife and children alone for too long. He had promised he would come back and save them despite Padme's protests that they would be fine. That he needed to go so the universe had some hope of defeating whatever it is that Anakin will eventually fall into, eventually become. Of defeating the man really in charge and possible (hopefully) saving them all.

"I will try to talk him around," she had said during their one face-to-face meeting about that matter. During the one time that her handmaidens (the ones Anakin had left alive, the ones he trusted wouldn't betray him, he apparently underestimated their loyalty to Padme) deemed it safe enough for them to meet without Anakin finding out. He knew then and he knows now that she doubted her ability to do so. That she had been lying to him in order to convince him to agree to her plan. He also knows that she still has hope she will succeed (that he has hope she will). They hope his escape will prove unnecessary. He knows they wouldn't have done something so dangerous if they both didn't know it was necessary (didn't know that any other possibility would likely fail).

He had offered to take the twins with him but she had refused. It would be too hard for him to keep three babies alive (and himself) while also trying to stay hidden, trying to stay under the entirety of the Empire's radar.

She was right. He can see his body slowly waste away as it turns what remains of his storage into food for the one child he already has. The food he can obtain would be enough to sustain him, but with his daughter draining it from him every time she feeds it ends up taking away from the stockpiling he unwilling did during the days when he was being too well fed (apparently Anakin's want to spoil his lovers did have one advantage). If he tried to keep three alive there wouldn't be enough to go around.

Shmi (Anakin named her, didn't even give Obi Wan the chance to have a say) grizzles again and Obi Wan holds her to a breast hoping in vain that maybe this time _that_ will be her problem. That maybe this time she will eat and sleep soundly like she did back before they fled, back when the temperature was the one she was born into, the one she always had known. She suckles a little before pushing away to sob and cry. There is no comfort to offer her. She will just have to learn to deal with the heat (so will he).

There will be a time (hopefully soon) that Obi Wan will find the chance to make good on his promises. For now though they have to survive and stay hidden. And for that to work she needs to get used to the heat.


	2. Chapter 2

**This was supposed to be about Anakin's struggle between an ex-slaves respect for body autonomy and his want to have a family... how did this end up from Obi Wan's POV?**

 **This is set earlier in the verse of 'Puer in Caelum' and directly after the explanation of why the Council isn't completely pissed off at them on tumblr.**

 **Pairings: Anakin/Obi Wan**

 **Warnings: mpreg; talk of abortion (with some strong language thrown about re it but no-one actually takes a stance against it)**

"Obi Wan wait up!" Anakin called, jogging to try and catch up to the brisk pace Obi Wan had taken after leaving the meeting. Obi Wan only increased his pace. "We still need to talk."

They didn't. Not anymore and Obi Wan knew that. He also knew there would be no way for Anakin to figure it out himself. That Anakin would keep following him until they 'talked'. He kept walking until he found somewhere that the conversation would be relatively private. He didn't want everyone to know just yet.

"What do you want?"

"To talk."

"About?"

"About what just happened."

"There is nothing to say about it."

"Yes there is!"

"No there isn't. You got your way, somehow. Your child won't be killed." That would be how Anakin would see it. No matter how many times it would be explained to him he would always have felt like his child had been murdered.

"What are you talking about?" Anakin asked and moved closer but Obi Wan was quick to take a step back.

"That was what you were going to do right? Try and convince me not to tell him so I wouldn't be told to kill your child."

"No," Anakin said and he looked honestly offended at that. "I just wanted to talk to you before you told them."

"Why?" He had no reason to walk to talk to Obi Wan about it unless it was to try and convince him not to do it.

"I wanted to know what you thought about it. Your letter didn't say. I knew what you thought the council would what and I knew what you thought I wanted but you never said what you wanted."

"Why would my opinion matter in this situation?" He had accepted when he found out that he would be the battle ground for Anakin and the Council to butt-heads over yet again. Accepted that he would have to convince his former Padawan not to do anything stupid or reckless over it.

"Because it's the only opinion that actually matters?" That was really a ridiculous thought. Really, he had the least input into it.

"And what would you have done if I said I wanted it? You couldn't have known the council would react the way they did?"

"We would have left. Gone far away from them."

"And when they eventually tracked us down."

"I would take the blame. I would say it was all my doing and would take whatever punishment they laid down." Of course Obi Wan already knew that. It was the reason he couldn't tell Anakin in person. He would sacrifice everything for his family without second thought. That was just what Anakin was like.

"And what if I said I didn't want it?" It would be the smart position to take with everything that was going on. The right decision according to the code.

"Then I'd ask why the Council even needed to know? Surely you don't need their consent to undergo a medical procedure?" There was conflict in Anakin's eyes but his voice was steady and firm. He was sure in his response even if his heart was not.

"And what if I told you I didn't want it now?"

"Then we tell them you miscarried. Or that the med-droids said your life was at risk and you had to make a decision. Or-" Obi Wan held up his hand to silence Anakin. The excuses seemed to come too easily to him, scarily easy.

"You would lie to the council?"

"If you do not want this," Anakin said taking a step forward and this time Obi Wan didn't step away. This time he let Anakin come into his space. "I would not allow them to force it on you."

"And what if I don't know what I want?" He had been so convinced in the Council's decision he had spent all his time convincing himself it was the right one. Didn't even think about any other possibilities. Now they had made the opposite call he struggled to find where he actually stood.

"Then I would say you still have some time to figure it out, and that I will be there when you do. No matter the decision you make."

So maybe his body wasn't going to be the battleground for Anakin and the Council to fight over. But that meant the decision was in his hands and really he didn't know where to start at.


	3. Chapter 3

**Prompt: Akinkin is 8 months with twins and obi wand had to take care of him due to him being on bedrest.**

 **I'm assuming Obikin as the pairing for this.**

"You're supposed to be in bed."

Really though, Obi Wan was hardly surprised that Anakin wasn't where he was supposed to be. He had known the second the medic had prescribed _bed rest_ to _Anakin Skywalker_ that it was going to be a battle for him to actually convince Anakin to follow it. He was honestly surprised that it had taken a week for this to happen. Anakin must have taken the orders seriously.

"I am in bed," Anakin replied, indicating to the fact that he was sitting in the bed. He was also hunched over the innards of some droid, apparently unconcerned about his large stomach pressed between the bedsheets and him as he worked. The pillows of the bed were propped up behind him to support his back, showing that the strain of the children on his body clearly affecting him.

"You're supposed to be resting in bed. That's what bed rest means."

"I am resting," Anakin protested and Obi Wan only had to raise an eyebrow for him to give up that position. "I was resting, all morning. Even ask Padme. When she came to visit I was resting in bed. I've only just gotten up and really I'm not doing anything too 'arduous'. They're fine."

"Anakin, you really need to follow the medic's advice." Twins always carried a higher risk in pregnancy and after 8 months of Anakin's stomach swelling to accommodate the children the medic had finally decided that he should limit all activity to try and decrease the risk of an early delivery.

"I know that. I just don't like lying here doing nothing. I feel useless," Anakin said before collapsing onto the pillows of the bed in what could only be termed a sulk.

"Anakin you're not useless. You're supporting the life of our children, giving them the space and time to grow." Obi Wan walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Placing the tray of food he had brought with him down onto the table he placed his now free hand on Anakin's stomach, feeling one of the children flutter and kick in reaction.

"I'm also lying around, not being allowed to do anything while you wait on me."

"And here I thought you enjoyed having the ability to order me around." Obi Wan teased and Anakin gave him a smile for it.

"I do but it doesn't make up for the fact I'm now allowed to do anything but lie in bed all day."

"Is there anything I can do to make up for it?" Really, it was Obi Wan's fault that Anakin was pregnant and therefore stuck on bedrest.

Anakin gave a hum and Obi Wan knew whatever request it was would make him regret asking the question. The teeth gently tugging at his lips only confirmed it. "You could fuck me like you did to get these two into me."

It was a tempting offer. Obi Wan knew he wasn't the first man in existence to find his lover even more attractive while they were pregnant. The medic had told him so. They had followed that statement with a pointed reminder that Anakin was to be on bed rest until the children were born. "You know what they said Anakin: bed rest."

"But it is in bed," Anakin argued and Obi Wan had a feeling that the majority of the month would be spent with Anakin trying to find ways of getting what he wanted to do to fit within the phrase of 'bed rest'. Obi Wan wanted to give in on this point, but he knew it was a dangerous idea.

"I am sorry love, but you know I can't."

Anakin pouted but settled back into the bed after moving the pillows up to the bedrest. "I guess food and a back rub will have to do."

"Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

**Prompt: sith!obikin au with ani-mpreg. (Further idea: Bickering sith couple, confused jedi who came here for a dramatic light v dark ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny, not a domestic spat. Now it's just awkward.)**

 **So this was really fun to write (even if I went a little off theme at the end). However I've never written Mace before and decided to go with his POV for this so hopefully I get it right.**

 **Also the Dooku backstory is because I'm forever pissed at how much of a wasted character he was.**

Mace hadn't signed up for this.

He had signed up for going to the suspected location of two Sith Lords and hopefully ending at least some of the problems for the Jedi and the Republic. He had not been prepared for… whatever this is.

He feels like he should blame Qui Gon for this. It was his idea to bring Skywalker into the Jedi Order. His belief that he had found the Chosen One, the one to bring balance to the Force, out in the sands of Tatooine that lead to all this. On the other hand Qui Gon had been long passed by the time everything went to insanity. Honestly, Mace is a little jealous of him for that.

He supposes he could also blame Dooku for it. The man who had somehow convinced both Skywalker and Kenobi to turn to the dark side when they had both been called to Geonosis for reasons the Council never fully found out. Dooku, who convinced them to turn their backs on the Jedi Order and betray all the ideals they had once sworn to protect. The man who had trained them and apparently encouraged them to indulge in the worst of their traits.

No, it wasn't either of their faults. Nor was it the Jedi Council somehow failing to instil into them the ability to deny the call to the dark side. No, the blame for all the years of the Jedi being plagued by their combined destructive forces, and the blame for Mace having to be in the situation he is currently in, rests solely and completely on their shoulders.

"I told you if we stopped for too long the Jedi would find us," Kenobi says as he paces around the outskirts of the room. Mace keeps an eye on him. Of the two of them Kenobi is currently likely the most dangerous, being unaffected by any obvious condition that might slow him down.

Mace also knows he cannot risk taking his eyes of Skywalker either. He may be visually pregnant but he isn't so far that he will be completely unable to fight. Plus, Mace knows what mothers can be like if their children are threatened. With the amount of potential power within Skywalker it would be foolish to not consider him a threat.

"You can't blame me for this. It's your child's love of the fruit from this place that keeps us here," Skywalker says breaking his attention away from Mace to glare at Kenobi and rub at his stomach as if it wasn't clear where the child he was talking about was. Mace is tempted to try and use the distraction to get an attack in, but he doesn't think he would be able to close the distance between Skywalker and himself without Kenobi moving in as well.

"We could have had it shipped to us," Kenobi replies and Mace is slightly annoyed that they consider him so little of a threat that they are having a lover's spat despite the fact he is right there. However their increased distraction also leaves the potential of him getting the upper hand. Of making up his disadvantage in numbers with the advantage of surprise.

"I told you it doesn't taste as good after it's been transported. And anyway, they just would have tracked our shipments and found us anyway."

"It would have taken them longer to find us," Kenobi replies and his circles are moving closer, his pace becoming more predatory.

Skywalker gives a scoff, "even if you are right _Master_ I am glad they found us while I can still fight. You know I wanted to be the one to take Windu."

"Ah, of course. Should I leave him to you then?"

"I want to say yes Master, but I am not at my full potential." Anakin's hand skirts along his stomach as if it, once again, wasn't completely obvious what he was talking about. "I don't want for them to be hurt."

"Of course," Kenobi replies, stopping his pacing of the room but blocking the only potential exit from it. At least it looks like Mace will get the fight with the two Sith Lords he signed up for after all. "Shall I give you the finishing blow? As an early present to celebrate the birth of our child?"

"That would be nice."

"Of course. Anything for you love."

There is a dangerous grin on Skywalker's face that is soon mimicked by Kenobi's. It is the only warning Mace receives before their lightsabers come to life and he finds himself fighting off two Sith Lords at once.

If Skywalker and Kenobi had fought well together back when they both had been at the Jedi temple (and they had), it was nothing on what they were like now. They seemed to move as if they were one. Knew how the other fought and knew how they needed to move to best support it. Even Skywalker's pregnancy didn't stop them from being deadly together, Kenobi covering any weakness it created.

Mace wondered if it was Dooku's tutelage that had given them the ability to be so deadly together. Or maybe it was just what would always happen naturally if the two of them were allowed to be around each other. Allowed to learn each other's bodies and minds and how they fought.

He didn't stand a chance at beating them both. Not when both their attentions were solely focused on him. No way to land a hit on one without the other blocking it and leaving him open to attack.

His only option was to retreat.

Someone had to warn the Council and the Senate that the two greatest threats to the Republic were about to have a child.


	5. Chapter 5

**Prompt:** Since I know you follow the blog, can I prompt you any of these? post/144730739696/obianidalasuggestion-obianidalasuggestion. M!preg Anakin being a nightmare to his lover(s)

 **I kept trying to decide between doing a mini '5 times' and just doing one, as you can see I decided on just the one (although I slipped references into the others as well).**

 **Also my mum got really bad insomnia when she was pregnant (she had insomnia normally but pregnancy made it worse) and well… that sort of slipped in here.**

"Obi Wan, wake up, Obi Wan I'm hungry." Obi Wan isn't entirely sure if it is the words or the shakes that accompany them that drags him from his sleep. Either way he knows their source and knows he wouldn't be able to continue to sleep with the knowledge that Anakin and their child needed him.

"Anakin what's the matter?" It takes a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the room, but he doesn't really need it to know that Anakin is leaning over him, gently shaking his shoulders.

"I said we're hungry." He doesn't need to see Anakin's face to know he's pouting but the light creeping in from the hallway does provide enough for him to recognise the sad look on his lover's face.

"There's food in the kitchen." Hopefully that is the solution and he can go back to sleep with the next disturbance being Anakin returning to bed, probably to actually get some sleep for the first time in the night.

"They don't want anything there," Anakin replies and Obi Wan works on trying to remove the sleep from his mind as he sits up in bed, apparently stirring Padme from her own rest.

"Obi? What's wrong?" Padme asks, her eyes peering open. Even in the darkness of the room she can apparently recognise them both. "Ani?"

"I'm hungry," Anakin replies before Obi Wan can assure her that it is nothing to worry about. There is no point in them both losing sleep over it.

She too sits up and pushes the sleep from her mind to give her attention onto Anakin. "Do you need me to get C-3PO to make you something?" She is obviously still tired if she thinks Anakin wouldn't have done that himself if it would satisfy him.

"There's nothing here they want," Anakin says, rubbing the mound of his stomach that had turned him into a fussy eater (which he claimed they got from Obi Wan despite the fact Obi Wan wasn't actually a fussy eater compared to anyone except Anakin).

"Anakin, can't this wait until morning?" Obi Wan asks. It's late at night, or, probably more accurately, early in the morning. Both Obi Wan and Padme had already lost sleep from trying to convince Anakin to join them in bed despite the fact his insomnia had only gotten worse during his pregnancy.

"No it can't. I'm hungry now." There is a wetness to Anakin's voice and even in the dim lighting Obi Wan can see the tears starting to gather in his eyes. He doesn't like where this is going.

"Ani, don't cry. It'll be alright," Padme moves to hug their pregnant lover. Pulls him into her arms and gently pets him in order to try and comfort him and stop the tears from overflowing.

"It's not okay," Anakin replies and the tears start to fall. "I'm fat and I'm hungry and I can't sleep. My back and feet hurt constantly and I can't do half the things I used to be able to. And you don't even care because I've woken you up and I'm not sorry because I hate this and I'm hungry."

"Ani we do care," Padme says and gives Obi Wan a look that is easily translated to 'fix this'.

"Anakin what do you want to eat? I'll go get it for you," Obi Wan says moving so he could gently rub Anakin's back (something he had learnt generally put Anakin in a better mood). He just hoped whatever it was wouldn't be too hard to find in the middle of the night.

"I want the special from Dex's." Really Obi Wan should have predicted it. If there was one thing Anakin had gained a craving for in pregnancy it was the food from Dex's. It seemed more often than not he was dragging one of his lovers over to the place in order to satisfy a craving for food that he previously didn't particular care for. Obi Wan briefly considered asking if Dex could just have someone deliver the food seeing they already brought so much in the previous three months (and would likely buy more in the three months left of the pregnancy). Really though, he doesn't want to push the relationship by trying.

"Okay. Okay I'll get dressed and go get you some."

"Thank you," Anakin says and while the tears hadn't dried up they had stopped flowing.

The trip thankfully wasn't that long and Dex had already prepared the order for him when he got here. "Your missus called, told me what the other one wanted. He's really got you running ragged hasn't he?"

Really Obi Wan didn't think he looked _that_ bad. Sure he was a bit sleep deprived but he wouldn't call himself 'ragged'. "Well at least there's only three more months of it."

"And then you'll have the kid waking you up in the middle of the night because they're hungry."

"But at least I won't need to leave the apartment to get them what they want."

"That you won't," Dex replied with a grin that Obi Wan weakly returned. "You should get back to your lover though. He doesn't seem to be very able to be patient."

"Anakin rarely was one for patience, but thank you."

Dex waved him off and Obi Wan made the return trip in much the same time. Upon his arrival Anakin all but ignored him in favour of taking the containers of food off him and quickly digging through the draws of the kitchen to get something to eat it with.

"Is that all you need?" Could Padme and Obi Wan go back to bed and leave Anakin to join them once he had finished eating?

"No. I need you," Anakin says and Obi Wan doesn't even consider denying the request. He goes to cuddle with Anakin on the lounge, Padme joining them just as easily.

They know they will probably be there until morning. Will probably see the sun rise over the towers of Coruscant and then have to convince Anakin to let them go do their jobs for the day. The both know it and yet they don't really mind. If it made him happy it was worth it. Even if it did mean they would be working off very little sleep for at least another three months.


	6. Chapter 6

**Prompt: Anakin is very close to term with the twins (and predictably scared/excited/miserable/clingy), and Palpatine comes to see him under the guise of offering mentorly support but actually to check in on his future apprentice (and bonus leashes/contingency apprentices). Extra points if Padme shows up and very firmly sees him out.**

 **So I assumed Obianidala for this.**

 **Also first time writing Palpatine (when I wrote it at least), hopefully I got the right amount of subtle creep across with him (I found it hard because Anakin is so blind to it in canon I felt I couldn't fully show it. Also this is maybesortof a sequal to the previous oneshot in this collection.**

The twins are both behaving for once and Anakin is glad. He loves them. Loves the two unborn lives that are steadily growing inside him dearly. Loves the light feel of them in the force – barely there, but if he focuses he can see that there are two of them and they are alive. Loves the fact that soon he will have two children who he can love and dote on and who don't have meetings that take up half their day keeping them from being there with him constantly.

There are however some traits of theirs he isn't as fond as. Things like how they have apparently decided his internal organs were punching bags. Or the fact they have taken control of his hormones and made him irrational (not more than normal – no matter what Obi Wan said). Or how they have turned his diet from being able to consume anything with nutritional value to only being able to consume foods of an ever decreasing list (with a secondary slightly longer one of things he can stand the smell of).

Still the problems are only temporary ones so he can live with them for the remaining month. He can also admit that he does enjoy the moments where both children are _still_ inside him and he is able to just rest without worrying about a foot being driven into his liver.

He does wish one of his lovers is home and he isn't enjoying the moment of peace completely alone in what had been Padme's apartment until he basically moved in at the 6 month mark.

The knock on the door earns his attention, and apparently the attention of at least one of the children as they shifted inside him in reaction to it.

He knows it isn't Padme or Obi Wan, both of them would just walk into the apartment without knocking. He cannot really think of who else would visit him. He stares at the door and wonders if he should answer it or not.

"Anakin, my boy, are you in there?"

Palpatine. He hadn't thought he would visit him. Especially seeing there was a war still going on and the Chancellor probably had his hands more than full dealing with that. Sure they had often talked in the past, but that was before Anakin ended up with pregnant with two of Obi Wan's children.

"Yes. I'm here. Just give me a minute." He can't move as quickly as he used to and the twins have both apparently decided that him getting up is a cue to start battling for priority space. He places his hand on his stomach and tries to send a calming presence to them through the Force. It doesn't really work and while they do stop actively punching at his internal organs he can still feel them shift inside him. He guesses that it's as good as he is going to get.

Palpatine grins at him when he opens the door and Anakin swears one of the twins kicks him in the stomach at the exact same moment. He ignores it and gives a polite smile back. "Sorry, they just-. I guess I can't move as fast as I used too."

"It's quiet alright. I know how much of a strain they must be on you," Palpatine says, eyeing off the hand of Anakin's that is now pushing back at the one that is pushing out of his stomach in an attempt to convince whoever is moving to please _calm down_. "May I come it?"

"They're not that bad," sure his body is tired and sore and swollen most of the time from them, but really, everything good in his life had caused him some level of pain to obtain, it makes sense for this to as well. "And yes, of course you can."

Palpatine walks into the apartment and Anakin can see him eyeing off the take-away contains from Dex's dinner and he does feel kind of guilty. It probably isn't the healthiest food to sustain two growing lives on but they want it and it was the only thing he could reliable keep down when they had been making him throw up so it's gained a soft spot for him.

Eventually Palpatine's eyes move past the containers and quickly brush over the rest of the room before returning their attention on Anakin. "I won't bother you for too long I just thought I'd come and check on you. I haven't heard from you for a while, I worried about how everything was going for you."

"Everything's as good as one could expect in the circumstance." The galaxy is still at war, and Padme and Obi Wan are fighting every day to try and bring it to a close (with both words and force), while he is unable to watch their backs because of the changes his body has gone through in order to give the children space to grow. He does wish it had happened after the war had wound to a close and he didn't have to worry every day about one of his lovers dying because he couldn't be there to save them. On the other hand the war had also helped them. The Jedi Council needed Obi Wan too much (and needed the possibility of Anakin returning after the children were born) for them to really have much want to punish them for child-forming attachments.

"Those words sound like something Master Kenobi would say."

"Did it?" He hadn't intended for it to but he guesses the words were more likely something that Obi Wan would say then him.

"Yes. Hopefully he hasn't rubbed off on you too much. It would make sense, seeing he and Senator Amidala are the only people who you see much of these days. It must get lonely here while they are both working."

It is, but there isn't really anyone else Anakin wants to be with. He is free to leave the apartment whenever he wants, he could go to the temple and see who was there and not away on some battlefront trying to end the war. He just doesn't want to. "They make it up to me when they're here."

"I can imagine. The children you carry will be strong with their parentage, I could understand why the Council would want to keep you happy and of course Master Kenobi as well."

"What are you implying?" Obi Wan loves him. The proof of it was his agreement to keep the relationship a secret before the pregnancy forced it out into the open. He loves him and Anakin is sure he wouldn't have put up with half of his weird pregnancy demands if he was only trying to keep him happy for the children.

"Nothing my boy, really, I'm just thinking aloud," Palpatine says and gently pats Anakin on the shoulder. This time the child decides his bladder will be their foot's target and Anakin cannot help but wince. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. They've just taken to beating up my internal organs and you being here has excited them."

"Ah, of course. They're strong already."

"Yeah I just sort of wished they wouldn't use me to test out their strength," he keeps rubbing his hand along his stomach and silently pleading through the Force to them to settle down, he doesn't want for the Chancellor to think poorly of him because they were causing him grief. "Oh, you can feel them if you want."

"No. No. I'm quiet alright my boy," Palpatine says and he looks vaguely ill at the idea. "I trust your judgement."

A silence grows to surround them and Anakin wonders if he was supposed to be the one to fill it. He doesn't have much to talk about. His life currently mostly spent tinkering with droids while trying to take advantage of any moments of peace the children gave him. He could ask about the war he supposes, but he has Padme and Obi Wan to keep him up to date with it.

Palpatine eventually fills it. "What is going to happen with them after they are born? Surely the Jedi wouldn't suggest putting them in the crèche? To try and hide their parentage from them would be a disservice both to them and you after everything you have done to protect the galaxy."

"I don't really know." He tries not to think about it but he knows the Council has talked about it (despite their apparently unwillingness to involve Obi Wan in the conversation). He has also heard that while some of the Master's believe they should be treated as any other Force-sensitive child (should they be Force-sensitive) others are considering it as a potential element of the prophecy and something that should be guided by the _will of the Force_ alone and not past-precedent. Anakin hopes the later wins out, at least then his position as 'Chosen One' might gain him something useful when it comes to the council and not just more expectations placed on him.

"You don't?" Palpatine asks and he goes to say something else but the front door opens and Padme walks in. It's probably her lunch break, Anakin realises, and she has come home to check on him as she does whenever she has a chance. He wants to go over and hug her. To get her in his arms and have her press against his stomach – her presence seems to calm the children and right now he desperately needs it. They are still trying to hide their relationship though, the galaxy knows someone had to get him pregnant but that works in their favour in this matter: Padme is just a friend who is offering her help to him.

"Chancellor?" She says and sounds honestly surprised that he is there. "I was told you were in an important meeting and couldn't be disturbed."

"Yes, well, the meeting finished early and I figured I would use the time to visit Anakin and check how he was going. I have missed his presence and with all the chaos it's nice to take breather now and then."

"Really?" She sounds doubtful but Anakin cannot see any reason to be, Palpatine's reasons seem fair. "Well I don't mean to disturb you but there's been a new proposal and you should probably read over it before it hits the floor later today."

"Yes, yes, of course I shall make sure to read it."

"I don't doubt that. Still you should probably return to your office to have a chance to give it the _proper consideration_ it deserves."

"Of course," Palpatine says, "you'll have to excuse me Anakin, duty calls."

"Of course, thank you for the visit." It is nice to know that Palpatine still cares about him even when he isn't getting his face plastered all over the news for his war efforts.

"It was my pleasure," Palpatine says before leaving, giving a polite goodbye to Padme as well which she returns.

Once the door is shut Anakin is quick to close the distance between him and Padme, and she just as quick to close it as well. She presses a kiss to his cheek and he nuzzles into her hair as she gently runs her hands over his stomach. And of course, as if by magic, the children calm.


End file.
